Merrill hires new head of Asia fixed income-source

HONG KONG, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch MER.N hired Michael Halloran from UBS (UBSN.VX) as its new head of Asia-Pacific fixed income, currencies and commodities, a source familiar with the move said on Friday.

Halloran, who was formerly head of Asia-Pacific fixed income for UBS, will take up his new post at the end of September, the source said, declining to be identified because the move has not been formally announced.

Halloran will replace Antony Hung at Merrill, who has already been appointed head of Pacific Rim wealth management.

A UBS spokesman confirmed that Halloran had left UBS as of early July. Merrill spokesman Rob Stewart declined to comment.

Bond sale volumes in dollar-, euro- and yen-currencies from Asia have dropped 48 percent this year to $19.8 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data, as the global credit crisis has made it much more expensive to issue debt.

But there have been pockets of strength such as in Japan, where the nation's low interest rates is spurring demand for higher-yielding debt.

The volumes of Samurai bonds, or debt issued in Japan by foreign entities, reached this year a record first half, with $13.5 billion in sales. (Reporting by Rafael Nam; Additional reporting by Junko Fujita in TOKYO; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)